# NTSB DCA10WA056: Boeing 747-422, N128UA, Sydney, Australia, May 7, 2010

- Type: NTSB incident investigation
- Classification: Incident · No injuries · Foreign investigation
- Date: May 7, 2010, 17:00 local (17:00 UTC)
- Place: Sydney, Australia
- Highest injury: No injuries
- Injuries: 246 uninjured
- Status: Led by another country's authority
- NTSB office: Major Investigations Division
- Lead agency: Other
- NTSB case key (mKey): 75950
- NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=DCA10WA056
- NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/75950/pdf
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/DCA10WA056

## Sequence of events

The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event best describes what happened.

- [Takeoff: Tailstrike](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/091); cases with it: [All aircraft, 124 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/091/sequence.md)

## Analysis

On May 7, 2010, at 1700 UTC a Boeing 747-400, N128UA, operated by United Airlines, experienced a tailstrike on departure from Sydney, Australia. The airplane had minor damage and returned to SYD and landed without injuries or futher incident. The incident is being investigated by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (www.atsb.gov.au).

## Factual narrative

On May 7, 2010, at 1700 UTC a Boeing 747-400, N128UA, operated by United Airlines, experienced a tailstrike on departure from Sydney, Australia. The airplane had minor damage and returned to SYD and landed without injuries or futher incident. The incident is being investigated by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB). The NTSB designated a U.S. Accredited Representative to the ATSB's investigation under the provisions of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Annex 13 as the state of manufacture of the airplane. All inquiries should be directed to: Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) P.O. Box 967, Civic Square Canberra A.C.T. 2608 Australia Website: http://www.atsb.gov.au

## Aircraft

- Registration: N128UA (not matched to a registry record)
- Reported make and model: BOEING 747-422
- Category: Airplane
- Serial number: 30023
- Engines: P&W PW4000 SER 60000 lbs thrust turbo fan; P&W PW4000 SER 60000 lbs thrust turbo fan; P&W PW4000 SER 60000 lbs thrust turbo fan; P&W PW4000 SER 60000 lbs thrust turbo fan
- Damage: Minor damage
- Flight: Part 121
- Operator: United Air Lines Inc
- Registered owner: United Air Lines Inc
- Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Transport
- Departed: SYD, Sydney
- Destination: KSFO, San Francisco, CA
- Flight plan: IFR
- Airport: SYD, Sydney, Australia, runway 34L

## Weather

- Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day

## FAA reports on this event (1)

The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs).

- [Incident 20100507033119I](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20100507033119I), May 7, 2010: Boeing 747-422, Sydney, Minor damage. On may 7, 2010, a united airlines B-747-400 aircraft departed Sydney australia on a regularly scheduled passenger flight. During takeoff rotation on runway 34L…

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

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